Scarlet Fever
by Vamps-with-Wings
Summary: Max is seeing red . . . literally. -Oneshot- FAX!


**Authors Note: So I'm sure the idea has been done before. It's probably not the most original . . . but I do love writing Fax-y one-shots, and that's what this mostly is. Kind of pointless, actually. It ended up being **_**a lot**_** longer than I expected, but I won't complain. Not really sure what book this takes place in. At least after the second.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride . . . ***_**Sigh**_*****

_**Scarlet Fever**_

I didn't exactly mean to flip out. It wasn't something that could be stopped, though. Once you wave that flag in front of a bull and they get ready to charge, you can't just take it back and be all, '_just kidding_!'.

No, they're gonna impale you with those giant, deadly tusks of theirs regardless.

So in a way, my major meltdown wasn't to be avoided. It was irrevocably going to occur . . . because that red flag had been waving madly away in front of me all day, and I had had enough!

Curse the very essence of that most anguish-able color!

Alright, maybe I should backtrack a bit. Let's rewind to say . . . this morning. I had been sleeping peacefully in my tree, minding my own dang business, when out of nowhere I heard the most gut-wrenching, ear-shattering, mind-imploding sound.

A squeal that could only belong to the Red-Haired Wonder.

"_NICK_!"

I think I might have fallen then, because all of a sudden the ground was plummeting towards me, and I took a nasty face-plant into the grass. I spat out a few blades, groaning as I rolled to my knees.

Nobody rushed to my side. In fact, everyone seemed immobile, frozen in the position they had been in before that little twit from Virginia had popped up from seemingly nowhere.

Angel was perched on her tree limb, just staring. Nudge was lying, one eye open, her gaze locked on Lissa. Gazzy had stopped, his back to her, bending over to get something from his bag. Iggy was hunched over the fire, grilling something on a stick . . . and Fang . . . well, Fang was just standing out in the open, his face blank.

"Oh. My. _Gawd_! I can't believe it's you!" The Red-Haired Wonder shouted, launching herself into Fang's unsuspecting arms. He patted her back awkwardly, giving me a pleading look over her head.

"Uh . . ." I mumbled like the genius I am.

"What are you guys doing out here?" she asked, still latched onto Fang like a friggin leech. "Are you, like, camping or something?"

"Angel," I hissed out of the corner of my mouth. That snapped her to attention and she clambered down to stand beside me. "Where are we!"

"Um . . . Virginia, I think," she admitted, biting her lip.

I quickly composed myself, jumping to my feet. I leisurely wiped away as much dirt from my clothes as I could, snatching a stray leaf from my hair, which was in snarls so knotted I had no hope of ever getting them out.

"What are you doing here, Lissa?" I asked tightly, through gritted teeth. I tried to smile and look friendly, but I'm pretty sure my appearance gave off more of a 'I want to strangle you!' vibe.

"You're, like, in the woods right behind my house, silly!" she exclaimed, grinning.

If she used the word 'like' out of context one more time, so help me God-

"Oh . . . what a coincidence," Angel said sweetly, smiling coyly. She skipped over to Lissa's side, taking her hand and tugging her away from Fang.

_Good girl_, I directed towards her in my head, and by the thumbs up she shot me behind her back, I figured she had heard. She had intervened at the right moment. I don't know how much longer I could have stood watching Lissa salivating over Fang. Not cool, alright?

"Well, there's no use staying out here any longer. I mean, who actually likes camping anyway? We can go back to my house, get something to eat . . . and maybe, you all can get a quick shower." She wrinkled her prissy, upturned nose.

So what? All of a sudden we weren't good enough for her high society company? I mean, yeah, we probably smelled like we had been tramping through the woods for about three weeks, only stopping to roll in the occasional mud puddle . . . which was kind of true, in a way. That was no reason to be insulting though!

I had just opened my mouth to adamantly refuse, when Fang replied, "Uh . . . sure."

I shot him a glare, my fists curling up into a ball. If I could physically shoot daggers out of my eyes, Fang would be sooo dead right now. He just stared back blankly, shrugging his shoulders in a way that said 'what's the harm?'. He was right. The harm wasn't to us. It was more towards the Red-Haired Wonder, the threat being my fist connecting with her face.

But that's a story for another time.

**- Later -**

Okay, I must admit, the shower felt nice. Sure, by the time it was my turn the water was ice cold and the blast was so hard it stung, leaving red welts all across my body, but it did effectively clear away about a months worth of grime. I was in for about an hour, I suppose, picking out all the debris from my wings. Then I had to tackle the tangled mess I called my hair. I didn't even want to think about the state of Nudge's wild mane of curls. The thought made me shudder.

Once I was all wrapped up in my freshly washed clothes, which had been thoroughly cleaned by Lissa's surprisingly nice (and not red-headed, which was a bonus in my book any day) mom, I was feeling better than I had in days.

I still wanted to get out of there as fast as I could, though.

I set off to round up the flock. Iggy and Gazzy were in the living room, watching TV. Typical. I found Nudge and Angel in the corner, Nudge trying not to scream as Angel combed through her hair. Ouch. Fang, however was nowhere to be found . . . and neither was my favorite person in the world (gag-gag) Lissa.

Not good.

My eyes narrowed suspiciously, and I set off down the hallway. I pressed my ear to the first door, but I didn't hear any movement inside. When I stopped at the second though, I heard a high-pitched giggle. I had found my culprit.

Slowly I turned the knob, applying the lightest amount of pressure. I only opened it enough so that I could see inside, but that was quite enough.

Fang was sitting on the bed, and Lissa was hanging grotesquely across his lap, her fingers curling into his midnight locks. I bit my lip so hard I drew blood, in a vain attempt to stop the scream I felt bubbling up my throat. Fang's hands were all over her back, his head tilted down so that he could kiss her better. I felt the bile rising, and I clamped a hand over my mouth to contain it. They continued on like this, enough so that if he was trying to push her off, he would have succeeded by now.

As quietly as I could I rose, backing away. I felt the tears as they sprung in my eyes, dripping down my face. Why should I even care? Fang and I weren't together! He could do whatever he wanted, with _whomever _he wanted. It wasn't up to me to stop him . . .

So why did it hurt so badly all the same?

**- Even Later -**

"Thanks for the hospitality, really," I said numbly to Lissa's mom, my throat still thick with tears. I had managed to dispatch of the redness, and calm the puffy-ness under my eyes enough that I appeared to be just fine, but there was still a gnawing in my chest every time I glanced at Fang.

"Any time dear. Please, come back soon," she replied pleasantly, smiling genuinely.

I nodded, even though I had no intentions of ever setting foot in Virginia again. The more I kept Fang away from the Red-Haired Wonder, the better all our lives would be.

Lissa profoundly burst into over-exaggerated tears as we prepared to leave, hugging Fang fiercely. I quickly averted my gaze, glaring furiously at the ground as the seconds ticked by torturously. Finally though, she released him with more blubbering. I rolled my eyes and headed into the forest, motioning for the others to follow.

Once we were far enough away I began searching for a good place to lift off. We would fly from here to wherever the wind carried us. It was just another city in our endless lives of running . . .

This consumed the rest of that night, and day. The next morning we stumbled into yet another small, nondescript town, looking for some place to eat. I had the handy dandy Max Ride card in my pocket, my eyes wide open for a McDonald' or better yet, an all-you-can-eat buffet.

We were just walking down the sidewalk when some jogger chick stumbled on a crack and went sprawling into Fang, almost knocking him down. She jumped up immediately, her hands flying to her throat.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "I am _so _sorry!"

"It's alright," Fang muttered, righting himself.

"I'm too clumsy for my own good," she admitted, flashing a mildly flirtatius smile at Fang. I internally groaned, taking note of the vibrant red of her hair. What was with this kid and attracting those gingers!

"It's cool," he assured her.

"I'm Rachel, by the way," she said, ducking her head shyly. She batted her eyelashes, making me want to barf.

"Uh, Nick."

"Well it was nice to meet you Nick. Maybe I'll see you around?" She couldn't mask the hope in her voice. I refrained from rolling my eyes.

"Um . . . sure," Fang mumbled.

She began walking away, shaking her butt a bit too obviously. Once she was almost to the corner she turned again, waving. Fang raised a hand, and she grinned like she had won the lottery.

"Let's go, lover boy," I ordered bitterly, shoving past him.

The entire time we searched, I swear there were about fifty girls (ALL WITH RED HAIR) who either stared dreamily at Fang, or made some bold statement towards getting his attention. My blood was boiling by time we had eaten and were more than ready to leave the town, though this was more my feelings than anyone else's.

Of course things had to get ten times worse after that.

As we were leaving, a mother who was pushing her tantrum throwing child outside in his stroller, conveniently dropped her keys. Fang picked them up, always having to be the good citizen, and called out after her. She turned, and he handed the keys back to her wordlessly. She grinned gratefully, giving him an overdose of thanks and admiration.

Blech!

We were almost out of earshot when I heard her say to her friend, "What a handsome young man."

What. The. Heck! I didn't understand how he did it. Somehow he managed to even charm the middle-aged red-heads. What was wrong with society! Everyone seemed to be out to get me today.

**- Even **_**Even **_**Later -**

I volunteered to fetch firewood while the others set up camp, and Fang opted to tag along with me. I couldn't refuse without arousing suspicion, so I just nodded and turned around. I didn't have to talk to him or anything, after all.

"Max?" Fang asked, once we had been collecting for about five minutes.

"What?" I snapped.

There was a pause and then, "What the heck is wrong with you?"

And with that innocent, simple question . . . I _freaked_. Whirling around I got right up in his face, giving him my scariest death glare. Before I could think properly my fist was hurtling towards his nose. He ducked, alarmed at my odd behavior, but I just sent a well aimed round-house kick to his gut and he crippled to the ground. I took a deep breath, which allowed him enough time to stand again. I struck out at his face, but he grabbed my hands in his, pinning them to my sides uselessly. I struggled against him, but it was no use.

My determined expression soon melted, and my shoulders sagged. To my utter mortification, I started _crying_. Right then and there, in the middle of the forest . . . In front of _Fang_!

"Max?" he asked awkwardly, unsure of what to do. It wasn't every day that I broke down like this, you know.

I knocked his hands aside, sliding to the ground. I pulled my knees to my chest, burying my face in them. I tried to calm myself down, but the tears kept coming in a torrent.

I felt him sit beside me, and then his arms were all around me, hugging me to him. I continued to sob as he rubbed my back, right between my wings. He knew I loved that.

"Max, please tell me what's going on. You've been acting weird ever since we left Lissa's."

"I saw it," I informed him, once most of my tears had dried.

"Saw what?" he asked in confusion.

"You and her . . . I saw you kissing . . . and I don't know. I just got upset, and I don't even know why. It doesn't make any sense to me. And then there was Rachel, the jogger with the hots for you . . . and all those other girls. For God's sake, even the mom wanted you."

"Max-" he began.

"It shouldn't affect me, but it does."

"Max-" he tried again.

"Things are already weird enough between us as it is. I can't make things worse."

"Max-!" he said insistently.

"Can we just forget I ever said anything? I-"

This time he cut _me _off, sealing my words away with a kiss. I hadn't been prepared for his lips to come swooping in like that, so I was frozen in shock. Slowly though, my eyes fluttered shut, and I kissed him back.

When we finally pulled apart my breathing was ragged, and I was helpless to move. After a second he leaned in again, and I turned my head sharply.

"Fang, I can-"

"Yes, you _can_!" he insisted, his voice hardening. "But you _won't_. You have this twisted vision that's there's nothing between us, but there is. You try to convince yourself otherwise, but you can't forever."

"But Fa-"

"You say you don't know what you're feeling, and why you're feeling it. I know what it's called, Max. _Jealousy_. You're jealous when you see me with other girls, because you like me! Why can't you just accept it!"

"I'm not jealous!" I cried.

"_Yes you are_. You can't just blow me off and then get mad when I try to move on. But every time it's brought up, you deny having anything but brotherly love for me. It's not that difficult to just let things be the way they should be."

"We shouldn't be like that though," I insisted.

"How do you know?" he demanded, glaring at me with a penetrating intensity. His dark eyes were stormy, filled with emotions I thought I'd never see him express.

"I . . . I don't," I admitted. "But having a relationship with you would be too complicated. I'm confused enough as it is!"

"Then let me take away the confusion. Just say you want to be with me; and tell the _truth _for once."

"I . . ." I trailed off, glaring morosely into the foliage. My head wasn't going to get any clearer with him staring at me like that. I pushed away, coming to a stand. I walked a few paces, just trying to think straight for once.

Flashbacks from a few days back came hurtling through my mind. I shuddered to remember the disturbing kiss he had shared with the Red-Haired Wonder. It made my skin crawl to imagine him with her . . . In fact, I wanted to shrivel up and die just thinking about him with any of those other girls. My vision was clouding in a haze of crimson. I had scarlet fever. Everywhere I turned it was red, red, red.

And I hated it.

I hated Lissa . . . I hated Rachel . . . I hated all those other ogling chicks . . . I hated that mom . . . and I hated anybody else, red hair or not, who has ever or will ever stare just a bit too long at him.

When I picture anyone else in his arms, I want to puke my guts out . . . but when I imagine myself in their place, the whole world sort of brightens.

I'd be the only one to see those special smiles. I'd be the only one he looked forward to seeing at the end of the day. I'd be the only one he'd want to hold. I'd be the only one he'd ever love.

And being the only one for him sounded kind of appealing when I put aside all my other obligations and worries.

My sight was still slightly tinged red when I turned to face him again. He was standing as well, his arms hanging at his sides. His gaze was locked on mine, and once I looked into his eyes, I couldn't see anything else.

Fang had always been good at reading my mind, even without the power that Angel had. He seemed to gouge what I was feeling then as well, because a breathtaking smile graced his lips, and he took two long strides towards me.

I didn't try to stop him when he put his arms around me. I welcomed the embrace. I didn't try to turn and run when his head bent. My eyes closed and I leaned forward as well. I didn't try to push him back when his lips finally met mine. I tightened my hold on him.

He had cured my sickness. The scarlet fever was gone.

**Authors Note: Okay, so like I said before, totally pointless. It probably wasn't very good anyway. I'd still appreciate it if you reviewed, though. I just wanted to write something other than my main story. I try to post some one-shots now and again, to keep my creativity flowing, haha. Sometimes I just need a change, and this was the only idea coming to me.**


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